Complacency danger clear to rested Patriots

The Patriots returned to work Tuesday after getting the previous three days off, a bonus for securing a first-round bye in the AFC playoffs.

PHOTO/ THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski is enjoying being back on the field after missing five games.

The Patriots returned to work Tuesday after getting the previous three days off, a bonus for securing a first-round bye in the AFC playoffs.

“It was definitely a good opportunity for us to take some time and kind of lick our wounds a little bit,” special teams captain Matthew Slater said before heading off to the first of four practices leading up to Sunday’s divisional round game against the Houston Texans at Gillette Stadium.

The break was nice, but it was nothing more than that.

“I don’t expect it to give us some great edge or advantage come Sunday,” Slater said. “These guys are going to come in here hungry. They feel like they owe us.”

The debt was incurred Dec. 10, when the Patriots pummeled the Texans, 42-14, here in a nationally televised game.

The benefits of the teams playing each other in the regular season and postseason are as expected. Chiefly, there’s a familiarity with personnel and schemes.

The only real drawback would be complacency by the Round 1 winner. There seems littl0e chance of that occurring with the Patriots.

“I think it’s important for us not to rely on our past game and expect this game to go the same way,” Slater said. “It’s nice that we know their personnel, know how they feel out there, going against those guys, competing against them, but we expect it to be a totally different ballgame.

“We expect this to be a different team that shows up here this weekend and we know we’re in for a fight.”

Tight end Rob Gronkowski returned for the regular-season finale Dec. 30 after having missed the previous five games with a broken left forearm. Now he’s looking to build off that.

“It’s just great being out there with your teammates, getting the chemistry back down, getting in the flow of the game, getting the speed of the game back,” Gronkowski said.

“But now it’s just focusing on the practices this week, going out there versus our defense and catching balls, blocking with our linemen, running routes with our receivers. …

“So it’s a lot of fun to back out there. It’s cool.”

The Patriots generally avoid discussing their play from past seasons, but linebacker Brandon Spikes was uncharacteristically forthcoming when asked if the loss to the Giants in Super Bowl XLVI provided extra motivation for this year’s team.

“Why you got to bring that up?” the third-year pro said with a laugh. “I’m trying to forget about that. Of course everybody feels like we came up short. But that’s part of the game, that’s part of football.

“We’ll do whatever we can to not let that happen again. We had a great day today and we’re looking forward to tomorrow and trying to get better and get that edge.”

If the Patriots return to the Super Bowl, it would mark their eighth appearance, tying them with Pittsburgh and Dallas for most.

Rookie defensive end Justin Francis was the only player absent from practice. The Patriots will issue their first injury report of the week today when the league requires them to. … The Patriots signed receiver Andre Holmes to the eight-man practice squad. The 6-foot-4, 223-pounder previously spent time with Minnesota and Dallas.